Passing a verdict that would bring cheer to the witnesses asked to wait because the lawyers of the opposite parties were busy with matters in other courts, Delhi High Court Justice S N Dhingra has ruled that a court or a witness could not be expected to wait for an advocate, while he is busy at another court.

Averring that witnesses could not be expected to “dance to the tunes” of such lawyers, the judge noted that if a lawyer had opted to practice in Delhi, he must be available on the date fixed for hearing.

NEW DELHI: Lawyers of all district courts have decided to strike work on Thursday to protest against rising corruption in the judiciary.

The co-ordination committee of all the bar associations is also protesting against the "overlooking of public interest by the high court in divesting the district courts of India from original jurisdiction in the garb of opening commercial divisions in the Delhi High Court".

India will soon enact a legislation to attract overseas investments in mining and make the sector more investment-friendly, reports say.

Ministry of Mines Special Secretary S. Vijay Kumar said in Toronto on Wednesday that the proposed bill would become operational by this year-end, and would address concerns expressed by foreign investors.

Kumar is currently in Toronto heading an Indian delegation to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention. More than 22,000 delegates from over 100 countries, including 45 from India, are participating in the four-day convention.

Women's rights campaigners in India are claiming a major victory after the country's upper house passed legislation guaranteeing that at least one-third of future members of parliament will be women.

This win has not come easily or quickly; the bill was first proposed more than 14 years ago, and some opponents claim that minority groups will suffer, as a result of the gains made by women.

Presenter: Matt Abud

Remarks by a juror who showed a possible racial bias forced a judge on Monday to discharge the entire jury selected for the perjury trial of former Air India witness Inderjit Singh Reyat.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan said the remarks made by a male juror were overheard by at least one other juror.

"There is a possibility that two, three or more jurors are in a position that they ought to be excused," he said in a ruling made after submissions by lawyers for the prosecution and defence.

All courts in Manipur wore a deserted look on Monday as lawyers stayed away demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Information or an inquiry commission, headed by a sitting High Court judge, into Saturday's incident in which Advocate-General Nongmeikappam Koteswor sustained bullet injuries when he was travelling with two ministers in a car.

Lawyers and women's rights activists have expressed strong reservations over the Chief Justice of India's (CJI) comment that society must respect the wishes of a rape victim if she chooses to marry the rapist. "This approach could end up condoning the whole issue of rape. A rape doesn't cease to be a crime if a rapist marries the victim," additional solicitor-general Indira Jaising said.

Tirupati : Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has said that a Bill to amend the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, would make poaching a stringent crime. The Bill is to be tabled soon during the ongoing parliament session.

On a visit to the Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh, Ramesh lauded the efforts of the park authorities in achieving notable success tiger conservation.

India’s government is seeking approval from parliament to reduce its stake in the State Bank of India to 51 percent and allow the nation’s biggest lender to boost capital by selling shares.

The amendment to the State Bank of India Act, first proposed in December 2006, was introduced in the lower house of parliament today. State Bank shares rose as much as 3.3 percent in Mumbai to the highest intraday-trading level since Feb. 1.

Roop Kumari Khaitan: 81 years old

She is a freedom fighter, a social reformer and an activist. She fought for the rights of the teachers, making it her mission to get them treated right when it came to salaries.

Roop Kumari Khaitan was born on October 14, 1929. Belonging to a family of lawyers, Khaitan was married to a political leader. During the Quit India movement, she along with a group of other females, staged a demonstration in Kanpur against the British Empire.